Martinez confident flair can save Wigan

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez hopes his team can find the confidence to let their flair players shine. The Latics are mired in a relegation dogfight in the Premier League, with Tuesday night's 1-1 draw against Stoke meaning they have won just once in 10 league games.

There were flashes of brilliance on display at the DW Stadium though, particularly from winger Charles N'Zogbia and forward Hugo Rodallega, who were at the heart of Wigan's attacking invention. N'Zogbia delivered a wonderfully-flighted free-kick for Paul Scharner to open the scoring in the 14th minute and Rodallega almost made it 2-0 in the second half with an overhead kick.

But after increasing the pressure, Stoke found an equaliser 16 minutes from time through Tuncay Sanli's header and Martinez believes nerves gradually stifled his side's creativity. Asked about Rodallega's acrobatic attempt, Martinez said: "He is that sort of player and I think we have got a few players now that rely on their talent.

"When Charles N'Zogbia gets on the ball you can see there is a feeling that something is going to happen, and Hugo has got that talent in his play. It's just at the moment with the responsibility of the players, you could see that when we had something to lose it really became hard and you cannot express yourself.

"The moment that you get that little bit of confidence in your play, it will allow your talented players to express themselves a lot more. That is something that we need to work at as a football club."

With the Latics still a goal up, James McCarthy had to come off 10 minutes into the second half after sustaining a hamstring injury, something Martinez felt was a major turning point in the game. "That was the biggest disappointment - we really suffered when James came off," Martinez said. He had a big influence in the game, he stopped Stoke playing and we were a threat.

"James felt his hamstring and I just hope we took him off at the right moment and the injury is not too serious."

Although they may feel as if it was two points dropped more than one gained, other results last night meant the draw moved Wigan up two places to 14th in the table. It followed Saturday's 1-1 draw at Sunderland – where the Latics had also led 1-0 – and Martinez stressed it would only be after the forthcoming fixture against Bolton they would be able to assess the value of the last two results.

"We have our game in hand on Wednesday against Bolton," Martinez said. "It is a game that becomes even more important now because when you get two draws, the draws are good or bad depending on the next result. We need to make sure we find the performance that will give us three points."

Asked if he could feel momentum building within the team, Martinez said: "Yes, in many aspects. Before the Sunderland game we conceded three corners in the last three games [that led to goals] and it was something that was worrying.

"But the intensity and the concentration we had defending against probably the best team at set-plays [Stoke] and the way we did that against Sunderland was very, very pleasing.

"Then you put on top the character that we have got in the squad and I'm starting to see something that allows you to get excited. We need to carry on working to fulfil our potential because it is huge."

Martinez said he wasn't looking at the league table. "It's such a tight table that you could be in 11th position and feeling that you have got a bit of breathing space, but if you drop your standards you could really, really get punished."